Ghostbirth2

Ghostbirth 2 – The Graveyard Scene

Developing my new movie Ghostbirth 2 from the streets and cemeteries of Bangkok.

Marius Jopen

Marius Jopen

— 5 min read
Ghostbirth 2 – The Graveyard Scene

Dear friends,

I am currently finishing the script of my new film called Ghostbirth 2.

It's about a pregnant ghost in a massage studio and a film-maker from Germany who wants to make a documentary about it. Things will turn bad…

Here is the current version of the graveyard scene.

The protagonist is following the women who work in the massage studio, because he believes that they are connected to the ghost:

Pursuit Begins – Massage Studio

  • The protagonist leaves his building. All the masseuses come out together.
  • He has his camcorder with him. Filming.
  • He hesitates. Looks at the camera. Looks at the women. He knows this is crossing a line. Does it anyway.
  • He wants to know: What’s the secret of this studio? Where is the ghost?
  • He follows them. Keeps a good distance.

Through Bangkok – Dusk

  • Bangkok streets. Still twilight or already night.
  • He keeps filming. Following the group.
  • He constantly checks the distance. Nervous. Looks around to see if anyone’s watching him.
  • Dark blue, saturated sky.

Narrower Alleys

  • The alleys get tighter. Darker.
  • He keeps his distance. Films through the camcorder.
  • Camcorder POV: The women blur on the display. He almost trips. Too focused on filming.
  • The women turn left. Through a large gate.

Cemetery Gate

  • He realizes: it’s a cemetery.
  • The oldest Chinese cemetery in Bangkok.
  • Not just a graveyard. A living place: joggers, a fitness gym, a boxing cage, a pond.
  • Now hardly anyone’s around. Twilight.
  • He stops at the gate. Cemetery. At night. Following women into a graveyard.
  • Completely insane. But he goes in anyway.
  • He keeps following the group. Good distance.

Pavilions – Karaoke Singing

  • He passes a row of pavilions.
  • A song begins. A sad, nostalgic English love song.
  • Sung by an old Chinese man. Heavy Chinese accent.
  • The singing echoes through the cemetery. Gives the place its own mood.

Karaoke Pavilion – Detail

  • The protagonist walks on, almost enchanted.
  • The singing distracts him. He stops.
  • In one pavilion: an old man with a microphone in front of a big TV. Singing karaoke. English subtitles running along.
  • Behind him, on a ping-pong table: his wife. Arms crossed. Completely emotionless.
  • Looks like she’s waiting for him to stop. Or is he singing for her? Unclear.
  • The woman looks directly at him. The protagonist flinches. But no, she’s looking through him. Back at her husband.
  • The old man sings the line: “I can’t let you goooooo, even if you’re gooooone.”
  • The song becomes the soundtrack for the whole scene.
  • The protagonist pulls himself together. The women! He almost lost them.

Dark Path

  • He rushes ahead. Sees them just in time: the women from the massage studio turn off. Into a darker, densely overgrown path.
  • The protagonist follows cautiously. Keeps his distance.
  • Keeps filming with the camcorder.
  • The camcorder display flickers. Low battery. Shit.

At the Grave

  • He sees: the women stop in front of a grave.
  • They kneel down. All at once. As if rehearsed.
  • They pour something in.
  • From small silver vessles. Looks like water. Or blood?
  • He can’t tell. Too dark.
  • One of the women speaks. Softly. He doesn’t understand. The others answer in unison.
  • Suddenly they walk back.

Hiding

  • No time. He dives into the bushes. Almost drops the camcorder.
  • He has to hide in the shrubs.
  • The women walk past him. Don’t see him.
  • He holds his breath. One stops. Right in front of him. Looks into the bushes. Waits. Then walks on.

Investigating the Grave

  • When they’re gone, he approaches the grave.
  • Heart pounding. He waits a bit. Counts to thirty.
  • Camcorder and a strong flashlight in hand.
  • Camcorder off. Battery dead.
  • The grave is old. Weathered. Overgrown.

Photos on the Graves

  • In this cemetery, many graves have photos of the deceased. Old black-and-white passport photos, framed, embedded in the stones.
  • Many are badly decayed. The photo paper dissolved or chemically corroded.
  • Faces distorted. Look like after a nuclear accident.
  • He sweeps the light over several graves. Distorted faces stare back. As if screaming.

The Face on the Grave

  • He shines the light on one grave.
  • The photo here is clearer. Newer. The grave maybe ten, fifteen years old.
  • He sees the photo.
  • It’s the girl. The eerie girl from his last massage. The one who seemed unreal.

Realization

  • This moment: he understands.
  • The girl who haunts his building, where the massage studio also is, lies buried here.
  • In the background, from the pavilion: the old man still sings. “Even if you’re goooooone... even if you’re goooooone...”
  • The protagonist lowers the flashlight. Just stands there.
  • Then: a sound behind him. He turns. Nothing. Only darkness between the graves.
  • He walks away. Quickly. Without looking back.

Well… Thats the graveyard scene so far.
Hope you enjoyed it 🫣

Follow the movie coming together on Instagram.

Will keep going on…

Much love,
Marius

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